COLUMBUS -- The cannon is a lie.
There's a hand-crafted replica of a 1857 Napoleon cannon, once called "the best gun for all round field service" in the Civil War, that rests on two large wheels in Section 111 of Nationwide Arena. It fires at the start of Columbus Blue Jackets home games. It fires after they score. It fires after their home victories. Only it doesn't fire. It flashes, and it smokes. The "BOOM" emanates from the rafters through a concussion charge. The cannon firing is merely perception.
David Baker predates the cannon by a decade, as it arrived in 2007 and he became a Blue Jackets season-ticket holder on day one in 1997.